Someday
by NCIS Obsession
Summary: After Tony and Ziva spend the evening babysitting Vance's kids, they have a little talk about Tony's apparent fear of children, and what they see in regards to a family in their own future. TIVA. Tag to the season 10 episode "Hereafter." Special thanks to cote-de-weatherlyncis on Tumblr for the prompt!


**Since I'm on Spring Break, I started a fanfiction prompt thing on my Tumblr ( television-overload) and it has been going really well! This is a prompt from cote-de-weatherlyncis (thank you!)**

**If you are interested in sending in a prompt of your own, you can find the instructions on my Tumblr if you search "prompt" on my page.**

**Enjoy the story! Tag to "Hereafter" in Season 10.**

Tony watched as Ziva turned and left the room. He couldn't take his eyes off her even if he wanted to. He was puzzled, and no amount of staring after her could help him process what had just happened.

That night, babysitting Director Vance's children, had been surprisingly…pleasant. It made him wonder: what had he been so afraid of? When Ziva volunteered them to stop by and keep an eye on Kayla and Jared, Tony had felt his stomach do a somersault. Why them? Why _him?_

Tony had handled kids before. Whenever a case arose involving a child, Tony was always there trying to win their affection. More often than not, it didn't work, but the intent was there. He wasn't scared.

Until things changed.

He couldn't pinpoint the exact date and time when this change happened, but at some point, his perspective had shifted. Suddenly he was hyperaware of his interactions with children. They weren't just random kids he had no connection to; they were reflections of himself and—oh, he'd might as well admit it to himself—himself and Ziva.

Ziva David.

Tony let out a frustrated breath, unceremoniously slumping into the nearest chair and running a hand over his face.

How did this happen? When had his partner become the vision of his future happiness?

That's what had his stomach in knots before they arrived at the Vance's house. This was too close. Too close to the dream, that it had Tony feeling uncomfortable.

There she was, standing there talking to Kayla and Jared like it was the easiest thing in the world… She was so… maternal. And every time Tony saw this side of Ziva, it drove a knife through his heart.

The timing wasn't right. The timing was never right.

Ziva's father had just been killed. He couldn't risk upsetting the fragile balance of emotions she was working with at the moment. Again, time stood in their way.

But what if the timing was never right?

That's what scared him the most. Taking care of those kids, side-by-side with Ziva, was one of the greatest feelings. It may not have looked like they had things under control, but surprisingly they did. They fell into their roles as caregivers like it was second nature, and it had felt so good.

Would he ever feel that again?

Just as Tony was about to spiral out of control in a whirlpool of questions and anxiety, Ziva returned wearing her jacket and slinging her purse over her shoulder.

"Ready to go?" she asked, nodding to the front door.

Tony stood, grabbing his keys and wallet as he followed behind Ziva. It was incredible, the unspoken communication they had. He didn't even need to ask if she wanted him to drive her to her apartment, they both just understood what the plans were without uttering a single word.

They walked to the car, standing much closer together than ordinary partners might. Neither agent noticed anything unusual about it, however. Personal space wasn't really a concept the two had ever cared about when it came to each other. At first it had intimidated Tony, though he hated to admit it. But now it was a comfort that Tony subconsciously sought and reveled in. Standing too far from her side left him feeling like something was missing.

The two slid into the seats of the car. Tony avoided making eye contact with his partner, his emotions still swirling and getting dangerously close to giving him away already. If he looked at her now, it would all be over.

So instead, silence persisted as they sped through the night.

But of course, that couldn't last long.

"Why are you so afraid of children?" Ziva asked abruptly at a stop light. Tony could not escape this one. His eyes focused on one thing or another outside of the car, but even that excuse lost its integrity as time went on. How long could this red light be?

Tony could see out of the corner of his eye that Ziva was doing _that stare_ and was leaning dangerously close to him. She always did this when she had something serious to talk about. It was like an interrogation tactic specifically targeted toward Tony, and boy was it working.

Well, if she wanted to do this now, then so be it.

Tony cleared his throat and turned his head, his eyes meeting hers. He noticed that Ziva's hand was hovering just above his arm that was resting on the console, as if she wasn't sure if she should make contact. When she saw his eyes flash to her hands, however, she completed the action, resting her soft hand on his arm and softly circling her thumb on his skin. Her eye contact broke, now focusing her stare on her hands and his arm.

The effect was…calming. Tony had no idea where this conversation would go, but it sure felt like a step in the right direction.

"That's a tough question to answer," he said finally. At last, the light turned green and the car lurched forward. Ziva sat back in her seat, her hands now resting in her lap. The hairs on his arm stood on end at the loss of her warmth.

"I just do not understand what you are scared of," Ziva continued, "You were great with the children. And they loved you!"

Tony nodded, collecting his thoughts. What was he supposed to tell her? Certainly not the truth! He didn't want to scare her away, or make things awkward between them. Maybe just part of the truth would be okay.

"I guess it just makes me start to think about my future," he began with a sigh.

Ziva seemed to understand. Of course she did. She always did. "You are wondering if you will ever have a life like that. A family." Her statement summed it up perfectly.

Tony nodded again. "The fact that I even feel ready for something like that scares the heck out of me," he explained with a laugh. "I guess I just don't want to admit it to myself."

Ziva smiled, her dark eyes sparkling like stars in the night sky as the moonlight reflected off them. "I know what you mean."

Tony's heart skipped a beat. "You looking to settle down, Agent David?" he asked, masking the anxiety he was feeling with a joking tone.

Ziva looked back at Tony, her smile laced with certainty and hope for the future. "I have always wanted children. I practically raised my little sister Tali. I hoped that one day I would have a family of my own. A family not broken by fear and death."

Tony inhaled deeply. That was much more of an answer than he was expecting, but he supposed this was the _new _Tony and Ziva. The post-elevator Tony and Ziva. She was being open with him, that was good.

"With Mossad, I never thought I would live long enough to even seriously consider that future as a possibility."

Well, now Ziva was in America. She had a life to live, and dreams to chase. "You'll get there someday," Tony assured her, "And you'll be a great mom."

Ziva smiled at the compliment. "And what about you?" she asked, turning the focus back on him. "What does your little imaginary DiNozzo family look like?"

Well, Tony _obviously_ couldn't answer that…

"I don't know," he responded, shaking his head. "It's hard to tell when you're still a lonely bachelor sitting alone in your living room drinking beer almost every night."

"You are lonely?" Ziva teased.

Tony rolled his eyes. "I just wonder if maybe I've already met _the one_ and the timing has never been right, you know?" Was that too specific? Ziva had a way of getting him to admit things he didn't want to admit. He hoped he hadn't just given himself away. He wasn't prepared for the consequences yet if he had.

Ziva was quiet for a moment as they pulled to a stop out front of her apartment building, but she did not get out of the car. "Time always seems to get in the way," she said at last, her eyes flashing to Tony's lips before locking onto his emerald eyes. "But we should not let it stop us from pursuing the things we want in life." Her voice had softened to barely more than a whisper, and she leaned close again as if to get her point across.

"Yeah," Tony responded softly, unable to vocalize anything else.

There they were again, having a conversation full of ambiguity and unspoken thoughts that left him wondering if he was seeing things that weren't really there between him and his partner. He could never tell what she was thinking when it came to him. Whether she really had feelings for him or not.

"Thank you for driving me," Ziva interrupted his thoughts, reaching for her purse and unbuckling her seatbelt. Tony wanted to stop her, to bite the bullet and ask her the question he had pondered over for years, but couldn't make his mouth form the words.

"Anytime," he responded instead, a sinking feeling of disappointment settling itself in his stomach. Would they really be Tony and Ziva if they _didn't _cut off conversations with pretty much no progress made and more questions than they had started with?

Ziva nodded, opening the car door to get out. "Have a good night, Tony."

"Yeah, you too."

With one last smile and a cute little wave, Ziva disappeared into her building, leaving Tony sitting there in a puddle of conflicting emotions, wondering what all this meant to him, to her…to them.

**Thanks for reading! Any and all feedback is much appreciated!**

**I'll get back to my current wip soon, I'm just experimenting a little while I try to work past writers block, lol. I think it's working.**

**~NCIS Obsession**


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